Pubdate: Wed, 03 Mar 2004
Source: Duluth News-Tribune (MN)
Copyright: 2004 Duluth News-Tribune
Contact:  http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthtribune/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/553
Author: Chris Hamilton, News Tribune Staff Writer
Series: link http://www.mapinc.org/source/Duluth
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

DRUG CRACKDOWN PACKS PRISONS

Sentencing:

Minnesota's Prisons Are Fuller Than Ever, and the Number Of
Methamphetamine Convictions Is Partially to Blame.

Last year, Minnesota imprisoned more people than ever.

Most of the blame was placed on more people serving time for drug
crimes -- including a dramatic rise in methamphetamine cases,
according to a study released a month ago by Minnesota's Guideline
Sentencing Commission.

The authors of the study, ordered by the Legislature last year, came
up with several solutions:

.  Rework the state's sentencing guidelines to shorten sentences and
the stress on the prison system.

.  Create a noncustodial-treatment system for nonviolent drug
offenders.

.  Continue on the current path and build at least two more prisons
before the end of the decade.

Lawmakers appear divided on what to do -- if anything. A bill before
the Legislature would lengthen prison sentences for meth producers to
combat a growing problem.

Another bill calls for drug treatment as a less-expensive alternative
to prison and scales back some drug-possession laws.

St. Louis County Sheriff Ross Litman said while meth is a new problem
and everyone wants to get tough on crime, it's not as easy as passing
more laws or increasing sentences.

"It's a balancing act, and we need to find the right mix while being
fiscally responsible," he said.

Big Numbers

The number of drug offenders in Minnesota prisons grew from almost 12
percent of Minnesota's inmates in 1980 to more than 30 percent of
almost 7,000 prisoners in 2002, the most recent year for which
statistics are available.

This year, Minnesota prisons hold more than 7,500 prisoners, according
to the Department of Corrections. More than 2 million Americans are in
prisons and jails nationwide, an all-time high, according to the
federal Bureau of Justice Statistics.

The number of Minnesota prison sentences for meth has tripled over the
past six years, the commission study found. From 2001 to 2002, the
number of meth cases increased 49 percent -- from 882 to 1,316 cases
in the prison system, almost equaling cocaine cases for the first time.

In the face of the state's escalating meth crisis, Rep. Julie Rosen
and Sen. Bob Gunther, Fairmont Republicans, proposed a bill that would
lengthen the maximum sentence for possessing the ingredients to make
meth to 10 years on the first offense and 15 years on the second. The
mandatory minimum sentences would be two and three years,
respectively.

"There are no increases here for (meth) possession," Rosen said. "I
want to make that very clear. A lot has been made about how we're the
hardest of all the states on possession. This is if you are intending
to manufacture meth."

Truth in Sentencing

Minnesota is the only state in the Upper Midwest that has sentencing
guidelines for judges; Wisconsin is considering them. They were put in
place in Minnesota after debate in the early 1980s to provide
consistency and accurately reflect sentences.

The commission study concluded that, as a result of the guidelines in
combination with longer sentences imposed by lawmakers against their
recommendations, Minnesota has the lowest thresholds for drug
possession and the most severe punishments in the Upper Midwest.

Because of the guidelines and tougher drug laws, the average drug
sentence went from 22.9 months in 1988 to 50.2 months in 2002. And
that is with judges issuing lesser sentences than what statutes call
for in one-third of drug cases.

The study surmised that a big reason why Minnesota meth offenders
spend so much time in prison is because, if they are caught with 10
grams or more, they also are charged with "intent to sell," whether or
not police can prove that's what they planned to do. As a result,
those offenders face a prison sentence presumed to be at least 86 months.

Possessing any meth is a felony in Minnesota. Having the smallest
amounts, 3 grams or less, carries a maximum five-year prison sentence.

Manufacturing or attempting to make meth also is a first-degree
offense.

"I think 86 months for someone who is making methamphetamine is
reasonable," said Special Agent Paul Stevens of the Bureau of Criminal
Apprehension, who lobbied for the meth bill at the state Capitol last
month. "There should be a line drawn between the users and those more
responsible."

Treatment VS. Prison

Rep. Keith Ellison, DFL-Minneapolis, and Rep. Eric Lipman, R-Lake
Elmo, introduced a bill this session that would make treatment, rather
than prison, an option for low-level, nonviolent drug offenders. The
bill calls for the creation of a 22-person task force, which would
develop and implement the program. It also increases the minimum
amount of drugs people need to be caught with to be convicted of the
most serious drug charges.

"The reason we're going at it this way, first of all, is because
prison space needs to be reserved for the most dangerous people in
society," Ellison said. "Last year, all of the budgets on the county
and state level flat-out crashed. In this economic environment, we
can't keep jacking up sentences. We can no longer get tough on crime.
We need to get smart on crime, too."

Fred Friedman, Northeastern Minnesota's chief public defender, said
the proposed meth sentence increases in the Rosen-Gunther bill will
exacerbate the state's prison crunch.

"We need more treatment," Friedman said. "We can't be sending every
drug user to prison, for God's sake.'

The commissioners found that yearly savings in prison costs, minus
treatment costs, would range from $4.09 million to $30.8 million,
depending on who is classified as a nonviolent offender. If first- and
second-degree controlled substance violations were still considered
violent offenses, 203 prisoners would be released and sent to
state-paid treatment -- a system that does not exist. If the highest
violations were not considered violent, 576 prisoners would be freed.

Commissioners figured it would cost about $4,100 per year to treat a
Minnesota drug offender versus almost $23,500 per year to incarcerate
the offender.

Friedman supports giving nonviolent drug users a couple of shots at
treatment before locking them up.

"In 1996, the voters of Arizona passed an initiative, which mandated
drug treatment instead of prison for nonviolent drug offenders," a
1999 Arizona Supreme Court report said. "At the end of the first year
of implementation... Arizona taxpayers saved $2.6 billion and 77.5
percent of probationers tested negative for drug use after the program."

Research shows that when people complete drug treatment, they are up
to 78 percent less likely to commit new crimes, according to a 1997
National Treatment Improvement Evaluation Study.

Setting up a statewide drug offender treatment program also could help
rural communities deal with the crisis, the study found. A 2003 survey
of Minnesota's county probation officers indicated that rural areas
are limited in treatment options.

"The rural counties are facing a significant increase in the number of
drug cases due to methamphetamine growth in the state," the study
said. "The increase in caseloads, combined with limited treatment
resources, places rural communities in a very volatile situation."

Despite the research findings, many observers say prison costs will
need to rise before lawmakers find the political will to endorse
treatment over prison.

"This should be more of a public health concern than a prison issue,"
said David Malban, a veteran Duluth defense attorney who handles drug
cases. "There should be more spent on education and treatment.
Unfortunately, though, that usually comes at the end of a barrel,
after the courts have been overrun."

Ellison said his bill has received mixed responses. Politicians don't
want to appear weak on crime. Besides, the criminal constituency is
easy to dismiss because it doesn't vote, he said.

"A lot of people won't like the bill," he said. 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake